Companies increase profits by improving sales and reducing expenses. Sales typically improve as a result of better awareness of the company’s products and services, improved reputation and reaching more customers with its advertising. Businesses reduce expenses by finding ways to work smarter, minimize waste and deliver products more cost-effectively. Social networking sites such as Facebook offer ways to help your company achieve these objectives and ultimately increase your profitability.

Building Brand Awareness

Facebook helps to increase awareness of your brand in both the business-to-consumer and business-to-business environments by driving visibility of your company and products. Fans who like your Facebook page get news and information delivered directly into their news feeds and can engage with your brand directly in posts and discussions. By offering contests, deals and promotions on your company page, you give prospective customers the opportunity to learn more about your offering, to connect with each other and build a community you can interact with. Users can share details of your company products with others, which amplifies your message and your brand profile.

Generating Qualified Leads

Generate qualified leads that result in increased sales by targeting your market segments and reaching them using Facebook. Share content such as white papers and e-books that require the user to like the page or sign up for email communications to download them. This enables you to capture their data as a source of potential leads. Use search and targeted listening techniques to identify online conversations that you can join to build up interest in your product; for example, search for groups and individuals posting about weddings if your product is wedding-related such as printed invitations or decor. Generating customer feedback through surveys and reviews also helps to convince others to buy.

Increasing Sales Online

Increase your sales by setting up a Facebook store on your company’s business page. Make it more interesting by developing a virtual catalog of your products using one of the several apps available, such as Prestimedia, OpenEntry or SKUmatic. Optimize the catalog for users to buy directly from within Facebook using payment systems such as PayPal, Google Checkout or 2 Checkout, if your product is one that can be mailed to the customer. An added bonus of an online store or catalog is that if you keep the destination of Facebook ads within the platform, you can save up to 45 percent of the cost per click compared with ads with external destinations, according to a 2012 report on digital trends.

Reduce Advertising Costs

Reduce your advertising expenses by using Facebook’s targeted ads. You can set these up to reach specific market segments by targeting by location, demographics, language and personal interests. Facebook ads operate on a cost-per-click or per-view basis, which means you only pay for the number of times the ad is actually seen or clicked on. Your advertising dollars are spent only on ads that reach their target, which is more cost effective than traditional advertising. In addition, you can set a specific advertising budget for as little as $5 a day on Facebook, so you don’t need large sums of money to be able to afford advertising.

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About the Author

Tracey Sandilands has written professionally since 1990, covering business, home ownership and pets. She holds a professional business management qualification, a bachelor's degree in communications and a diploma in public relations and journalism. Sandilands is the former editor of an international property news portal and an experienced dog breeder and trainer.